


Branded

by FayeWildwood



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Branding, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sort of original character (Vesper), mostly implied - Freeform, so here's some more, there's not enough grog love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 12:02:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10536066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeWildwood/pseuds/FayeWildwood
Summary: Pike had known Grog for a long time, they were best buds after all. She'd known him long enough to know if something was up. For example, she could always tell if he was sad or happy, even if he didn't show it very well. And though it had happened rarely, she always knew when he cared for someone or when he was keeping secrets. (Grog was terrible at secrets.) So to say she was surprised when he showed up at her door with a broken and bleeding girl in his arms, frantic and begging for her help, well it'd be a bit of an understatement. Needless to say when she found out who the girl was and what her relationship was with Grog, and a few other members of the team, again... surprised just didn't cut it.Percy hadn't known Grog for very long. He'd known him for a few years, ever since the group found him rotting in that cell. But really, he was pretty easy to read. Grog wasn't great at keeping secrets or hiding things from the group, and he usually didn't even bother. So when Percy found out that Grog had been sleeping with his sister... well the word furious was an understatement.





	1. "Oh, Grog"

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I don't own Critical Role or any of these characters! Please be sure to read the warnings and stuff b/c a lot of bad stuff happened in this story. But yeah, There's not enough Grog fanfic out there where he gets some love, so I decided to write my own. Hopefully it's not terrible!

Her skin was cool against the heat of his hands as he pulled her close, eyes scanning in all directions as he half-ran, half-stealthed through the castle halls of Whitestone. She felt tiny in his grip, so small and limp and his chest ached. The residual red in his eyes burned as he fought through the rage that bubbled inside his veins. He had to get help, he had to help her.  
He didn't pay much attention to where he was going, his mind working on auto as he skid to a stop in front of a familiar door.  
"Pike!" He called out, his voice coarse and an octave lower than normal due to his rage. "Pike please!"  
He heard shuffling behind the door and a small white haired gnome pulled the door open with sleepy but worried eyes. "Grog? Oh my! Who-" She didn't get to finish her sentence however as Grog shoved past her, laying the small body on the bed before turning to her again, his eyes filled with panic, shining with unshed tears. "Grog? Buddy, what happened?"  
"P-Pike, help her," he begged, moving slightly as she rushed up to the bed herself and began running her hands over the mystery girl's arms and legs, trying to assess the damage. Grog didn't offer any more information, and at the look in his eyes, she decided not to pry just yet. She was worried for him though. She'd only seen this look in his face once and it was when Scanlan fell only weeks ago. He looked worried, his hands shaking and covered in blood and his eyes jumping between the girl, Pike, and the door. She wasn't sure if he was planning on running, or if he was afraid someone might have followed them.  
"Grog, she's hurt bad. I can't do this by myself. Would you mind fetching Keyleth for me?"  
"No!"  
The sudden outburst and booming voice caused Pike to jump, but out of surprise, not fear. She could never fear Grog. Her friend seemed to think otherwise however as his eyes widened and his hands raised defensively. He took a big step back and those tears threatened to fall again. "I-I'm sorry Pike! I didn't... I didn't mean to... No one else should know... I..."  
Taking a deep breath, Pike stepped forward and grabbed Grog by one of his hands. "Grog, if you want her to get better, I need Keyleth. Just Keyleth. We don't have to tell anyone else, I promise." He looked at her for what seemed like ages, a broken sadness in him that she couldn't place. Who is this girl? What happened that was so bad that he's terrified like this? After a while, Grog nodded but didn't move, his eyes still on the girl before him. "Here, you stay with her, I'll go get Keyleth okay?"  
Pike made her way to the door, glancing back only for a second, long enough to see the goliath move as far away from the girl on the bed as he could, sitting in a corner against the wall with his head in his hands. Oh Grog...  
As quickly as she could, and quietly thanks to her lack of armor, Pike made her way to the room she knew Vax and Keyleth shared, not too far away from her own. She knocked on it gently and waited, hands fidgeting and worry etched across her face. The door peaked open after a few minutes and Pike gave a sleepy Vax a small smile, hoping he was too tired to notice the expression on her face as she hid her bloody hands behind her back. "Hi Pikey, what's up?"  
"Hi Vax, sorry I know it's really late, but I need to borrow Keyleth for a little while." He looked at her questionably, still groggy as he tried to process her words. "I-It's for girl stuff, no need to worry. I'll have her back to you in no time."  
He seemed to think about it for another moment before shrugging and turning back to the dark room behind him. "Kiki, Pike needs you." The red haired druid had already been slightly sitting up in bed from the initial interruption to her sleep and nodded, standing slowly as she pulled on a robe she kept beside the bed. She greeted Pike with a soft smile before kissing Vax on the cheek and ushering him back to the bed.  
"What's wrong, Pike? What girl problems could I help with?" she asked as she closed the door and started following the gnome down the hall. "I-Is that blood? Pike I know we're both girls and all, but I don't think I can really help wit-"  
The gnome turned around and gave Keyleth a smile. "It's not that, Keyleth, don't worry. But I need you to promise you'll keep this between us, okay? At least for now." Keyleth looked at her with a confused look, but nodded anyway. "I need your help with some healing. She's hurt really bad and I can't do it by myself."  
"She?"  
Pike peaked the door open and slid in quietly, ushering Keyleth to follow. "Grog? I brought Keyleth."  
"Oh my," the druid whispered under her breath, taking in the scene before her. Grog hadn't moved from the spot Pike left him, and hadn't looked up when they entered, his muscles flexing and vibrating as he tried to gain control again. The girl on the bed was pale, her pure white hair spread across the dark sheets, matted with blood and her skin was bruising a dark purple. The leather armor she wore had protected her from what could have been the worst of the wounds, but she still looked really bad. "Pike, what happened?"  
The cleric led her toward the bed and Keyleth began healing while Pike tried to determine the severity of her wounds. "I don't know. Grog brought her here, but he's... he's not really there, Keyleth. He wasn't able to tell me what happened. I don't even know her name."  
"It wasn't me..."  
The girls glanced over to see Grog staring at, no, past them to the girl. There was a broken look on his face that tugged at their hearts and his voice was barely over a whisper, just loud enough for them to hear. "It wasn't me... it wasn't me..."  
"She's beat up pretty bad, will you keep healing? I'm going to see if I can talk to him and find out what happened." Keyleth nodded and Pike made her way over to her best friend. She sat down in front of him, putting one of her tiny hands on his. "Grog, buddy... we need to know what happened. Can you talk to me?"  
"It wasn't me..." he whispered again, quieter this time and his eyes looked down at his hands. Pike turned his hand over and frowned at the broken skin on his knuckles and the bruising that seemed to spread across them. "S-she's so small... it didn't take much... s-she's never been afraid of me, you know," he muttered. Pike was reminded briefly of a small child who had done something bad and there was a stinging behind her eyes as she tried to follow along, to put together the pieces of what happened. "She's strong... it wasn't me..."  
"Oh Grog... sweety I know it wasn't you. But I need you to tell me exactly what happened. I need you to remember, please."  
Grog took slow and even breaths, eyes bloodshot and brow furrowed as he tried to follow her request. "We were just walkin'... not botherin' no one. He was there... in my head Pike... I heard him in my head and I couldn't get him out." Grog raised his hands to the sides of his head as he spoke, as if covering his ears from some noise she couldn't hear. "She's mine," he growled, eyes flickering for a moment. "H-he's in my head."  
Mine. Mine. Mine.  
Pike stood quickly and backed up as Grog's eyes glossed over. She'd seen that look in his eyes before, so many times, but never trained on her, never trained on the family. "Grog? Grog listen to me, he's not here." When Grog looked at her with those eyes, not seeing her, her heart jumped into her throat and she reached up a hand to grip at her earring. "Jenga! Jenga! It's Grog! He- I need-"  
She was cut off as Grog grabbed her and pinned her against the wall, lifting her up to eye level of the goliath. "She's mine! She's mine and mine and mine!" The voice wasn't Grog's though. Pike could hear Grog, just barely underneath the strange echoed voice that came from his lips, but it wasn't him. Not truly.  
Pike kicked, trying desperately to claw herself free, but she was light headed from the lack of oxygen and she didn't have any armor or weapons with her. Vaguely she heard the others calling to her over the earrings, and Keyleth calling to her, running to her, but Pike shook her head. "No! K-leth, the girl... g-et -er..."  
The words were barely audible, but Keyleth got the point, launching herself to the bed and rolling, pulling the girl with her before sliding to the floor on the opposite side of the bed, using it as cover. Pike could just barely make out the half-elf's eyes peaking over with worry.  
"Pike!" The door slammed open to reveal the rest of the family, Percy in the front with Bad News already raised, despite the rest of the party freezing in shock, Percy wasted no time to fire a shot against Grog's side, sending the goliath flying into the wall. Vex immediately shot up some vines, extras helping out, coming from Keyleth's direction and they managed to pin the goliath to the wall, though with great difficulty. Vax ran to her side and grabbed her by the arms, helping her stand.  
"Pike, are you okay?"  
She coughed, waving a hand at Keyleth's direction. "T-he girl... Keyleth..."  
Vax followed her line of sight and nodded, launching himself across the bed in a similar style to his girlfriend and landing beside her with a soft thud. "Keyleth, are you okay?" He frowned at the body in her arms and sent Grog a questioning look. The goliath was fighting all he could against the vines, but more just kept coming as Vex and Keyleth tried to concentrate. His rage consumed eyes were focused on them. No, he thought, looking once again at the white hair between him and Keyleth, at the girl. Without a second thought, the rogue shot his black wings out of his shoulders and wrapped the two girls in their embrace, shielding them from the rest of the battle, and himself as well, trusting that the other's could calm Grog down. Maybe if he couldn't see her... "Keyleth, what's going on? What happened to girl stuff?" he asked again.  
The druid had a frightened look in her eyes.  
"Pike needed help healing her, so I was healing while she tried to figure out what happened. And she was talking to Grog and all of a sudden he sounded..." she shuddered under Vax's hands and shook her head. "He sounded different, like it wasn't him talking. And then he attacked her! Pike!"  
Vax hummed in the back of his throat and peaked his eyes over his wing to look towards the group again.  
"Grog! Grog please, listen to me," Pike was pleading, her hands held up as she tried desperately to get his attention. Percy still had his gun raised and Vex had pulled out her bow, an arrow notched and ready to fire at a seconds notice. Tary was standing awkwardly in the doorway, confusion in his eyes, but a coin in his hand, ready just in case. "Grog, look at me!"  
With the loudness of her voice, Grog drew his eyes away from the black and down to the small gnome at his feet. "She's gone..." he muttered, again reminding her of a confused child. "Disappeared in black... gone..."  
Pike frowned, her hands lowering slightly. "Yes, Grog, she's gone. She's gone."  
"Not Grog," he said, looking down at Pike, and when next he spoke, the strange voice was gone and his gruff one filled the room. "I didn't... It wasn't me... It wasn't me..."  
"Oh Grog, I know. I know that now. It wasn't you. Vex, let him go." The ranger did as she was asked and Grog fell to his hands and knees, his shoulders shaking and jaw clenching. Pike rushed up to him and hugged her tiny arms around his shoulders. "oh buddy, it's okay. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. Grog, Percy and Tarry are going to take you downstairs okay? They're going to take you downstairs so we can help your friend. Would that be okay?"  
The goliath kept his head down but nodded, allowing Percy to help him stand. At this angle, Pike could see the tears in his eyes again and he avoided her stare. "I don't mean... I didn't want to 'urt no one..."  
"We know, buddy. We know," Percy said.  
Pike nodded to Percy and Tarry who walked the man out the door, before turning towards the black mass of feather's on the other side of the room. "Vax he's gone, you can drop the wings." After a second, the wings were gone and the two half-elves stood, Vax holding the girl in his arms.  
"Pike, what the bloody hell is going on?"  
"I wish I knew. Here lay her down, then if you don't mind joining the boys downstairs?" Vax opened his mouth to argue but at the look on her face, decided against it and nodded, gently placing the girl on the bed and leaving the room. Vex helped Pike and Keyleth peel the girl's clothes off, some moments seeming to last forever as blood was already drying and clothes began sticking to her. When they had finally gotten all of the clothes off, they couldn't help but stare. The girl was covered in bruises and wounds, but under the blood, as Vex began wiping it off with a wet rag, there were scars underneath scars, covering most of the girls body. "Oh my."  
"You don't think, Grog..."  
Pike shot Vex a glare and shook her head. "He would never. Even if it were him, you saw for yourself, that wasn't him in control. There's something else controlling him."  
As Vex cleaned the blood off, Pike healed and Keyleth dressed wounds that were so bad the healing couldn't help completely. They worked for nearly an hour on her front side before gently turning her over to work on her back which was arguably worse than the front. Something was different about one of the scars though, and as Vex's perceptive eyes ran over the mark, she whispered a quiet, "no." The other girls looked up at her and frowned as she wiped away the blood. There on the girl's shoulder blade was a heavy brand, the lines thick and puckered, though it wasn't new at all.  
"Is that-" Keyleth swallowed and glanced at the door, afraid of who may be watching.  
"The De Rollo crest," Vex muttered. They had seen it so many times before. Etched across the clouds, lining the walls of Whitestone. Vex would know it from a mile away and her heart ached. "Do you think she's... you think she's another survivor?"  
Pike's hands shook slightly and she frowned. "We won't know unless we ask... surely they'd recognize her..."  
"But who do we ask first?"  
"If Percy finds out that Grog beat his sister... he may not be able to hold back, even knowing that it wasn't him in control," Vex whispered. "As much as I'd like to tell him, I think Cassandra is our best option, first. She'll be able to calm Percy down if anything happens."  
Keyleth agreed, stepping over to the door of the room and stopping a guard that was nearby. "Would you mind fetching Lady Cassandra for me? Bring her here as quickly as possible and apologize to her for it being so late? Thank you."  
They had the girl cleaned and wrapped up the best they could by the time there was a knock at the door.  
Vex opened it slowly, hoping to all the gods that it wasn't Percy. A familiar shock of white greeted her, but to her relief it wasn't her lover. "Cassandra."  
The younger woman gave her a forced smile and Vex could see the fatigue in her eyes. "You sent for me?" She looks much too old for her age, Vex mused, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her.  
"Yes, and I'm sorry that it is so late. I really am, but I didn't want to bother Percy just yet..."  
The noble girl narrowed her eyes slightly and looked Vex up and down, no doubt noticing the blood on her and the once white, now dark red rag she had in her hands. "What's happened? My brother is downstairs with the others. You could have easily fetched him."  
Vex waved a hand and sighed. "Oh yes, I know he's awake, he was just up here. Listen, Cassandra, I don't know how to say this..." She ran a hand through her hair, dislodging the braid she often slept in. "There was an... incident with Grog. He wasn't himself, we think someone was controlling him, but we don't know who. Anyway, he brought a girl home and she was all beat up and on the inch of death. Keyleth, Pike and I were able to stabilize her, but we noticed something about one of her scars..."  
"Vex, darling, I appreciate you keeping me apprised of what happens in my castle, but really, this sort of business should be handled by my brother."  
With a heavy sigh, Vex simply opened the door and held out an arm, urging the girl to enter. "Please."  
Cassandra didn't get far into the room before freezing, a noise similar to a whimper coming from her lips. The girl on the bed was still unconscious, but they had rolled her over and pulled the covers up around her. Vex had tried to get as much blood out of the girl's hair as she could, but without a bath, she hadn't succeeded much.  
"So we were right," Keyleth whispered, stepping back as Cassandra stumbled to the girl's side, her eyes wide with tears. "She's a De Rollo."  
"S-she's my sister," Cassandra breathed. "I-I didn't know anyone else was alive. I thought it was just me and Percy. I thought everyone else had died. Oh my dear, Vesper..."  
"Vesper," Vex mumbled, recalling the name that Percy had only mentioned a few times. She was older than Percy if she remembered correctly, but she surely didn't look it. The girl almost looked younger than Cassandra, and she looked so small. Perhaps it was because she was so beaten, so broken. "She's been hurt badly, and it looked like... well it looked like she'd been beaten many times before. She has very old scars on her that weren't from this particular attack." Cassandra gave a weak, hoarse laugh and muttered something about joining the club. Vex walked to the other side of the bed and pulled Vesper's shoulder just enough to roll her onto her side. "And we found this."  
The youngest De Rollo frowned, fingers reaching out to brush across the brand. "Our crest. Who would do this?"  
"I don't know. But we're going to find out," Keyleth promised before looking up at Vex. "I think we should tell Percy. The longer we wait..."  
Vex nodded, "I'll go get him."  
She made her way down to the kitchens silently, so many thoughts running through her head.  
Why was Grog with Percy's sister? Did he know who she was? Did he know about the other scars? The brand? Who was it that was talking through Grog? Was it the person who did this to Vesper? What else had he done to her? Who was she to Grog?  
"Vex? Darling?"  
She hadn't realized she'd already made it to the Kitchens until Percy spoke. She had paused in the doorway, watching them with a blank look on her face. Grog was sitting at the table, a large mug of ale in his hands but it looked untouched. Vax sat on the table beside him, a comforting hand on the goliath's shoulder and Tarry was opposite them, a bottle of ale in front of him. Percy had walked up to her when she didn't answer, gently laying his hands on her arms. "Darling?"  
"Is she dead?" Grog asked, his eyes begging her for something as he looked at her. His voice sounded broken and distant.  
Vex gave him a reassuring smile and shook her head. "No, Grog. She's badly hurt, but she should be fine. Keyleth and Pike were able to heal most of the bad wounds. Cassandra is there with her now." She watched Percy's face as she said that. His eyebrows raised in surprise and he tilted his head in that cute way he does when he's amused or confused. Vex swallowed, wishing he wouldn't give her that innocent look when she had such important news to give him. "Grog, I'm sure you'll tell us about what happened in due time," without looking away from those blue-grey eyes she grew to love, she took Percy's hands gently in hers. He drew his eyebrows down at her gentle touch, recognizing the look on her face as one of pity and bad news. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she shook her head slightly. "Grog, I just need one thing from you, okay?" He muttered a quiet okay, and by the sound of his voice, he also seemed a bit confused. "The girl upstairs, do you know her name?"  
Grog grunted, and she assumed he was nodding. "Ye' course I do. It's... it's Vesper."  
She could see the moment the world dropped out from under Percy's feet.


	2. Just Walkin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy is furious, as one would expect and Grog looks like a wounded puppy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I got some great comments for chapter one, so I kept going :) hopefully this chapter goes well.

There were few times that Percy had felt the floor drop out from under him. The first had been the initial attack when he saw his people, his family die, then again when he saw Vex die in the tomb, and again when Vex had opened the door for their "talk". This was the same feeling, a feeling of dread, shock, disbelief. He didn't feel himself moving, didn't hear the voices calling behind him, but his breaths were heavy and his muscles tense as he pushed the door of Pike's room open.  
He might of thought it a dream, had it not been the shock of white hair so similar to his that greeted him, or the white bandages that seeped with blood. If he was dreaming, she wouldn't be hurt. She'd be perfect, standing before him with a sweet smile and dark brown curls, so much like their mother's.  
But instead she lay on dark covers, bandages wrapped around her torso and arms, her white hair stained with blood. No older than the day he last saw her. Cassandra sat at her side, one hand gripping Vesper's and the other reaching out to Percy as he stumbled, almost blindly, towards his sisters.  
Sisters, plural... She's alive, Vesper's alive.  
"Percy, she's here. It's real," Cassandra told him, grabbing his hand and sitting him on the side of the bed, her in a chair that had been pulled up. Percy reached out slowly, his hand just barely ghosting across the young girl's cheek. She was warm, too warm, but she was real.  
"She doesn't look any older," he whispered, a small smile on his lips as he took the girl's other hand in his. "I guess I'm still the oldest De Rollo left." He sighed and looked over at Vex who was leaning against the door frame. "Thank you, Vex'ahlia..."  
She shook her head, a sad look still on her face. "Don't thank me. Grog brought her here." She could see him tense, she could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he fit the pieces together. She could see the fury building up in his chest, overflowing into his eyes as they burned with realization. If she didn't know better, she might have expected that black smoke to start circling him again. He looked back at his sister as he stood, fingers itching toward the gun on his waist. "I'll kill him."  
Vex was at his side in a second, her hand grabbing his before he could wrap his fingers around the cold, familiar metal of his weapon.  
"It wasn't him, Percy. Someone was controlling him. He didn't know what he was doing." Her voice was pleading, begging him. He looked at her with dark eyes and she put a hand on his face. She knew what he was feeling. She knew the bond between siblings. If anyone had done this to her brother, she didn't care if they were possessed, she'd still try to kill them. But this wasn't Vax and Percy had her to keep him in control, just as he would if she were losing it. "Percival, Grog was... broken. He was broken about this. You saw him. He didn't mean to hurt her, he was fighting it, the voice in his head. He was struggling so hard to stop when he was attacking Pike. This is not his fault and you know it."  
Percy was silent and it took her a moment to realize that he was no longer looking at her, but instead behind her at the doorway. She turned to see Grog standing there, his shoulders slumped and eyes empty. Percy must have noticed the look on the goliath's face because his muscles relaxed and he took a steadying breath.  
"I have some questions, Grog, and you are going to answer them. Understood?"  
Grog looked at him for a long while before nodding, stepping into the room and finding his previous spot against the wall to sit. Percy didn't move, only gripped Vex's hands in his, as if she were grounding him. "What were you doing with my sister?"  
"Walkin'..." he mumbled.  
"Walking? Did you know who she was?"  
Grog shook his head. "Knew 'er name... didn't connect it to you. Only knew Vesper."  
Percy tensed slightly at the mention of her name. "How long has she been in Whitestone?"  
There was a long pause as Grog thought about the answer. It was only when Percy turned to him, the dark look in his eyes causing Grog to shrink back a little. "She don't live here. S-she was visiting me..." The group looked at him in confusion and he shrugged. "We met in Vasselheim... had some drinks... started talkin'. When we came back here, she would come visit me, mostly at night when ev'ry on was sleepin'."  
"You were shagging my sister?" Percy growled, fury in his eyes, launching himself towards Grog but the twins wrapped their arms around him and held him back. Vex was probably the only one to notice the goliath flinch, his eyes flickering over to Vesper's sleeping form. "How long?" A long pause. "How long, Grog?"  
He shrugged. "Dunno. She gave me this thing," he reached into the bag on his hip and pulled out a beautiful black stone that hung on a long chain. "Said whenever I'm not busy savin' the world, she'd come see me. Was probably when we went... to drop off the ashes of the dead lady."  
Vex looked at him in surprise. "Grog, that was months ago."  
Grog only shrugged again, a light blush covering his cheeks. "She was... nice. Wasn't 'fraid of me. I... I protected her... She has these nightmares that-that freak her out. Says I keep 'em away."  
"She's been in the castle before?" Cassandra breathed, looking down at her sister. "Why didn't she come see us? Tell us she was alive?"  
Grog shrugged because he honestly didn't know. Vesper rarely talked about herself or her past. She told him of her master and he knew her. But he knew nothing of her past. "Dunno. She never talked 'bout 'er past, just 'er name."  
Percy wanted to launch himself at the goliath again but he took a deep breath, listening as Cassandra asked him the next question. "Did you know? About the scars? The brand?"  
"Brand?" Percy hissed.  
Grog sighed, his fists clenching and Vex could see the battle he fought inside of himself. "I saw 'em... not the brand, knew it was there, never saw it. But the others... I saw 'em." He tensed and his eyes flickered with anger. "I wanted to kill 'im. Rip 'im limb from limb. She had... I dunno... a master I guess. She called 'im her employer. Said she owed 'im 'er life. She had a debt to pay before... before she could come be with me all the time. He... beats her all the time... I-I help patch 'er up when I can. Guess he found out." He looked up at Percy, the anger in his eyes turning to pity and self-loathing. "I never-never wanted to hurt her... that wasn't me."  
Percy reeled back, seeing the look in Grog's eyes. It was a familiar look, one that brought back memories of black smoke and whispered commands in his mind.  
He sighed and backed away from the twins, raising his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay..." He groaned, pulling his glasses off to rub his eyes, a headache pulsing just behind his eyelids. "What do you know about this guy? Is he the one controlling you?"  
"Probably," Grog answered, shrugging his massive shoulders. "I never met 'im. She says he's powerful, some sort of magick user. Said he saved her from the streets. She's magic, like him, but not nearly as powerful. I can't keep 'im out. I'm not strong enough."  
Pike smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh Grog, you're strong enough. Don't worry, we'll call Allura and Gilmore and see if they can do anything to, I don't know, shield your mind from him or something okay?" Grog nodded and looked back to the girl. "Alright, it's been a long and dramatic night. Let's all get back to bed. Percy, you and your sister can stay. Grog, why don't you come with me? We'll go back to your room, get some sleep, yeah?"  
As everyone but the De Rollo's left the room, Grog paused at the door and looked up at Vesper. After a long moment, he closed the door and leaned up against the wall beside it in the hallway. Pike gave him a pat on the shoulder before making her way back to his room, knowing she wouldn't be able to talk him into coming with her.  
Grog stared at his hands and frowned at the bruises that lined up so well with those on Vesper's pale skin. The thought made him sick and he pulled some bandages out of the bag of holding on his hip. He wrapped them around his hands. Normally he didn't care about wounds or bruises, he liked to let them heal and leave scars- showed he had stories, that he fought battles. But these were different. These weren't him. They weren't from protecting his friends - his family - or from a fun brawl in a tavern, they were from hurting someone he cared about.  
He couldn't say really if he Loved Vesper. Grog wasn't much for weird romance like Vex and Percy, or Vax and Keyleth. He liked sex, and Vesper was fragile, but she was strong and she liked him. She wasn't afraid of him like some girls were. She didn't think he was dumb like the others. And he wasn't, he knew he wasn't smart like Percy, but Grog knew things. Vesper never treated him like an idiot or talked to him smarter than he could understand.  
But she was also broken, like Vex had said about him. She was broken from the bastard that beat her, from whatever happened in her past that he didn't know. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and Grog would hold her. He wasn't the best at comforting, but whatever he did seemed to be right because she looked for him when she was scared.  
Grog leaned his head back against the wall and blew out a breath.  
That's why she'd been there tonight, in Whitestone. She usually didn't visit him unless he called for her, unless he put the necklace on and let her know they'd be alone. But she hadn't come from the necklace like normal. She had come on foot. She had come running into the tavern he was in, terrified, like a bunny running from a wolf. And he had been worried. She held on to him for a long time before asking him if he'd like to go walk.  
That was something he was good at, so he agreed. Until he heard the voice in his head.


End file.
